Cape school board seeks to tighten required residency documentation

With the Cape Henlopen School District already dealing with rising enrollment, the board began discussing changes to its school choice policy and ways to combat dishonesty during the registration process, officials said.

“We have a lot of families who tell us they live here and we find out they don’t,” said Superintendent Bob Fulton at the Dec. 9 school board meeting. 

School officials have to investigate to make sure people are living in the house they say they are, he said. 

“It’s crazy, but people want to send their kids to our district and are not being honest about living here or not,” Fulton said.

Board member Jessica Tyndall said she liked adding to the policy a statement that the district has the discretion to request further documentation regarding proof of residency. 

“You said it very kindly. I’m going to say it not very kindly,” Tyndall said. “People straight-up lie and will go to very strange lengths to get in here, and it's not fair for our staff, it's not fair for the children who actually reside in this district, and it’s not fair to the taxpayers.”

The district is already experiencing growth, Tyndall said, and she agrees with students who have been accepted via school choice, including students of parents who work in the district but don’t live here. 

“But I am not OK with lying to get into this district,” she said.

Many families moved to the district because in-school attendance was offered during the 2020-21 school year, and in particular for five days a week for elementary students, Fulton said. 

“We had people moving here from different states, from different areas of Delaware, and renting, and really going out of their way to be part of having their kid in school because they felt, like we did, it was the best thing for them,” Fulton said. “Because of that, it’s bringing some things to light.”

While the district’s hands are tied in some ways because of school choice legislation, Fulton said, policy changes are needed when possible regarding which students to accept.

Some families move into the district for just a few months, and then want to stay enrolled, Fulton said. Classifying students who attended Cape schools for two years or more, or two years or less, may be addressed in the choice request, he said. 

Students moving into the district before Dec. 1 can begin the school year at Cape if parents can provide a fully executed lease with a realtor or property manager, or a fully executed sales contract and mortgage commitment with a stated move-in date to make sure the family is actually buying the home, he said.

“This is all in here because of what we’re experiencing, which is pushback from those who don’t want to provide that information, because in a lot of cases they don’t have it,” Fulton said. “There may be some dishonesty involved with the registration process.”

Discussions will continue for the next few meetings, Fulton said, with a goal to have the policy revised before officials start approving choice requests at the end of February.